Power demands imposed on an electrical distribution grid by heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment may be substantial. For example, a single HVAC system, including a compressor, outdoor unit fan and indoor unit fan may consume 10 KW or more. During times of peak demand, multiple HVAC systems may impose a load high enough to require the electric utility to limit power distribution, resulting in selective disabling of some HVAC systems, brownouts or even blackouts.
Electric utilities typically seek to avoid such undesirable events by designing the power generation and distribution system to accommodate peak loads. While such a strategy may be effective in many cases, outlier events may overwhelm the excess capacity. Even without such events, providing excess capacity is costly. Accordingly, additional methods are needed to reduce peak demands on power grids imposed by HVAC systems.